Entering toddlerhood...

One two skip a few?  I'd say it's about time for an update.  Abigail is one!! And such a big girl now.  Here are her updated stats:


Weight (in pounds.ounces):

NB: 7.10
2 months: 9.3  (12%)
4 months: 10.13  (1%)

6 months: 12.06 (1%)

9 months: 16.03 (16%)

12 months: 18.0 (21%)

Length:
NB: 20 1/4"
2 months: 22 1/2"  (56%)
4 months:  24 1/4"  (40%)

6 months:  25" (16%)

9 months: 26 3/4" (16%)

12 months: 30 1/4" (85%)

Guess she just needed to catch up  :)

She had surgery in September to remove a dermoid cyst near her eye.  It was a big deal, they put her under anesthesia and everything.  It went fine though, and she did way better than mommy and daddy! And the best news: it was just a benign cyst, nothing to worry about. 

Steve and Abby came with me to DE/PA/NJ for a meeting.  

    On a plane for the first time:

     We went to Terhunes (of course):

     And Princeton:

     And my mom's tree:

     But my favorite picture from the trip... with Uncle Peter:

She can clap and wave now.  And speak.  Well, the only word she can say consistently is "doggie".  Forget mama and dada!  It's ok, I know where her priorities are.

Of course it was also Abby's first Halloween!  Ain't she just the cutest little pumpkin?

And last but not least, she had her birthday party.  It was a great weekend.  She had lots of family and friends celebrating with her at the park.

Abby in her big girl chair:  

She got a ton of toys and clothes - it actually looks like Toys R Us threw up in our house.  Next present: getting a toy chest to store all the loot! 

Abigail is amazing and a total joy.  I can't believe how much she has grown and changed in the past year.  Every day is a delight and we're so blessed to have her in our lives!

Holy Growth Spurt, Batman!

Guess who's back on the charts? Yeah!!  In fact, she's gained almost 4lbs in 3 months. Here are Abigail's updated stats:


Weight (in pounds.ounces):

NB: 7.10
2 months: 9.3  (12%)
4 months: 10.13  (1%)

6 months: 12.06 (1%)

9 months: 16.03 (16%)

Length:
NB: 20 1/4"
2 months: 22 1/2"  (56%)
4 months:  24 1/4"  (40%)

6 months:  25" (16%)

9 months: 26 3/4" (16%)


9 months seems like a big milestone, probably because it means she's been an outside baby as long as she was an inside baby! We got some real pictures taken to celebrate.  Here are a few:

Here she is looking like a toddler (note the pigtails):

Someone told us to let her gnaw on a frozen waffle to help with teething pain. Couldn't quite figure out how to get it in her mouth though:

She's doing great with eating finger foods, and uses a sippy cup like a champ.  It's so bittersweet to see her growing up, learning new things, and being more independent.  Thankfully she still nurses regularly and lets me rock her to sleep on occasion on the glider.  I'm ok with her being my little baby for awhile longer, even if she is getting big  :)

Abigail's First Blog Post

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Cruisin' Right Along

Just in the past few days Abigail has learned to stand. She pulls herself to standing on the couch, my leg, the entertainment stand, and (gasp) the crib!  We invested in a video monitor now that she's more mobile, and today I watched through the monitor as she tried to pull up on the crib mobile. I went in and removed it right away, and said goodnight again. Within 2 minutes she was standing and leaning over the side of the crib!  No way is that happening. I put her to nap in her pack-n-play until Daddy can come home and lower the mattress again.

The most interesting thing is the cable box.  I can put her down on the floor and lickety-split she's up and playing with it.

And today I caught her crusing!  She "walked" from one side of the wall (the DVD player) to the other (the cable box). Yikes. 

We're so far behind with baby proofing the house.  Now that she's pulling herself up on things this is our new priority, at the very least the living room needs to be solid.

Here are some other pictures  :)

   A baby and her dog:

   
Always smiling!:

   A closeup of her beautiful face:

She will be 8 months old tomorrow!  Unbelievable.

On the Move!

Abigail is crawling!  She doesn't limit herself to traditional crawling either. She can go forwards, backwards, and sideways. Her repertoir includes the up-on-all-fours crawl, the up-on-the-hands-and-feet crawl, the lunge, and the army crawl.  If she sees something she wants she can be there lickety-split (usually it's the laptop cord or the dog's fur).

Not sure who's the braver one here:

She's also sitting up on her own.  It's so funny how these things just click. One day she's rolling around and quite literally the next she's up on all fours and crawling around.  Or lying there and one day just decides to sit up.

She's also now sleeping most excellently, in her crib, in her own room.  It only took a couple nights of "ferberizing" and now we hardly hear a peep from her at bedtime. It's amazing really.

It's hard to believe it's been 7 months since Abigail was born. Here are some more pictures!

  Snuggling with the seahorse:

  Giving the side-eye (yes she's judging you!):

  Hanging out with Grandpa!:

  Pretty dress:

  Daddy showing her how to eat broccoli. Delicious!:

  Funny face:

Love my little girl!

Sick of the Comments

I know my baby is small, but I'm sick of all the judgy comments.  Everywhere we go mostly well-meaning people have to point out how tiny she is.  And generally, people don't think before they speak. 

Yesterday we went out for breakfast.  Abigail was sitting in a high chair, devouring a piece of pancake.  The manager actually had the nerve to come up and ask us if her pediatrician ok'ed "table food".  As if it's any of her business!  I could see if we were being abusive or neglectful, but actually calling us out in a public place for feeding her food in a high chair when she's 6 1/2 months old is so offensive.

Here are the most common questions I get:
"How premature was she?"
"How old is she? 3 months?"
"She's little! She eating ok?"
"Do you breastfeed? Do you have to supplement with formula or have her on a special diet?"
"How much did she weigh when she was born? She must have been so tiny!"

I would love to yell at people for being so rude. In my mind I come up with clever responses, like "We actually don't feed her. We make her eat what she catches. Teaches valuable life skills".  But instead I just get upset.  I feel bad enough already that she's in the first percentile for weight, like it's somehow my fault that she's not the typical chubby baby. Of course, she's perfectly healthy, just petite. It's just that I could do without the constant reminders and feeling like someone's going to call CPS on me for making my malnourished 3-month old eat pancakes in a high chair.

Happy Half-Birthday Abigail!

Abigail turned 6 months on Wednesday. Yowza!

Feet!

Excited for her 6-month vaccinations!:

Speaking of, she did very well with the shots. She cried for all of about 6 seconds and proceeded to smile at the MA on the way out.  She slept a lot the next day or so, but otherwise had no issues. What a brave girl.  The rest of the appointment went great, she's still "petite" but everything else is perfect. The doctor is a fan of baby-led weaning (BLW), which is a method of feeding your infant that skips mushy purees and cereals and goes straight to real food!  I was planning on doing this anyway after 6 months so it's great to have the dr on board.

Here are the updated stats:

Weight (in pounds.ounces):
NB: 7.10
2 months: 9.3  (12%)
4 months: 10.13  (1%)
6 months: 12.06 (1%)


Length:
NB: 20 1/4"
2 months: 22 1/2"  (56%)
4 months:  24 1/4"  (40%)
6 months:  25" (16%)


So we started the BLW process with carrots.  The first attempt was a fail. She'd rather eat the high chair:

Yuck! What is this stuff!

So we tried again later.  Success!  Well, some of it got in her mouth I think:

Very proud of herself:

We also tried pasta:

And she shared my Mother's Day breakfast (pancakes):

Speaking of Mother's Day, my brilliant (and thoughtful) girl made me a card at school:

Ain't she the greatest?